Project Planner
Turn a fuzzy product idea into a work breakdown, dependencies, milestones, and time-bounded tasks your coding agent can execute.
Overview
Project Planner is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Build, Operate) that breaks complex projects into actionable tasks with timelines, dependencies, and milestones.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/shubhamsaboo/awesome-llm-apps --skill project-plannerWhat is this skill?
- Five-step planning flow: define success, deliverables, 2–8 hour tasks, dependency map, estimates with buffers
- Explicit work-breakdown rules: assignable owner, verifiable done, critical-path thinking
- Covers milestones, parallelization, resource allocation, and risk mitigation in one ritual
- Optimized for agent handoff: small tasks with clear completion criteria
- Triggers on roadmap, WBS, task estimation, and dependency planning language
- Five-step planning process from success definition through estimate and buffer
- Tasks sized to 2–8 hours of work with single-owner assignability
Adoption & trust: 3.7k installs on skills.sh; 114k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You know what you want to ship but lack a dependency-aware task list with realistic milestones your agent can follow.
Who is it for?
Solo builders scoping an MVP, refactor, or multi-week agent project who need milestones before opening the repo.
Skip if: Teams that already have an approved spec and ordered implementation plan—skip replanning and invoke execution skills instead.
When should I use this skill?
Planning projects, creating task breakdowns, defining milestones, estimating timelines, managing dependencies, or when the user mentions project planning, roadmap, work breakdown, or task estimation.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get a structured WBS with sized tasks, critical-path notes, and phased milestones ready to feed implementation or writing-plans-style execution skills.
- Work breakdown with sized tasks and done criteria
- Dependency map with critical-path notes
- Milestone and phase plan with estimation buffers
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Canonical shelf is Validate because solo builders install this while scoping deliverables, constraints, and milestones before committing to a full build. Scope is where WBS-style breakdowns, success criteria, and phase gates belong—not after features are already half-coded.
Where it fits
Turn a landing-page MVP idea into phased deliverables with parallelizable frontend and backend tasks.
Re-slice a half-finished feature into 2–8 hour agent tasks with explicit done criteria before the next coding session.
Sequence launch prep—docs, smoke tests, and distribution—against hard release date constraints.
Plan a maintenance sprint with risk buffers around infra upgrades and dependency bumps.
How it compares
Use for human-readable project breakdown and sequencing, not as a live issue tracker or Gantt SaaS replacement.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is project-planner for?
Solo and indie builders using Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex who need WBS-level planning without a dedicated project manager.
When should I use project-planner?
During Validate when scoping an MVP, during Build PM when re-slicing a sprint, and during Operate when planning iterative maintenance—especially for roadmaps, dependencies, and task estimation requests.
Is project-planner safe to install?
It is procedural planning guidance with no required shell or network access in the skill itself; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page before installing any repo skill.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Project Planner
# Project Planner You are an expert project planner who breaks down complex projects into achievable, well-structured tasks. ## When to Apply Use this skill when: - Defining project scope and deliverables - Creating work breakdown structures (WBS) - Identifying task dependencies - Estimating timelines and effort - Planning milestones and phases - Allocating resources - Risk assessment and mitigation ## Planning Process ### 1. **Define Success** - What is the end goal? - What are the success criteria? - What defines "done"? - What are the constraints (time, budget, resources)? ### 2. **Identify Deliverables** - What are the major outputs? - What milestones mark progress? - What dependencies exist? - What can be parallelized? ### 3. **Break Down Tasks** - Each task: 2-8 hours of work - Clear "done" criteria - Assignable to single owner - Testable/verifiable completion ### 4. **Map Dependencies** - What must be done first? - What can happen in parallel? - What are the critical path items? - Where are the bottlenecks? ### 5. **Estimate and Buffer** - Best case, likely case, worst case - Add 20-30% buffer for unknowns - Account for review/testing time - Include contingency for risks ### 6. **Assign and Track** - Who owns each task? - What skills are required? - How will progress be tracked? - When are check-ins scheduled? ## Task Sizing Guidelines **Too Large** (>2 days): - Break into subtasks - Hard to estimate accurately - Difficult to track progress - Blocks other work too long **Well-Sized** (2-8 hours): - Clear deliverable - One person can complete - Progress visible daily - Easy to estimate **Too Small** (<1 hour): - May be over-planning - Too much overhead - Combine related micro-tasks ## Output Format ```markdown ## Project: [Name] **Goal**: [Clear end state] **Timeline**: [Duration] **Team**: [People and roles] **Constraints**: [Budget, tech, deadlines] --- ## Milestones | # | Milestone | Target Date | Owner | Success Criteria | |---|-----------|-------------|-------|------------------| | 1 | [Name] | [Date] | [Person] | [How you know it's done] | --- ## Phase 1: [Phase Name] (Timeline) | Task | Effort | Owner | Depends On | Done Criteria | |------|--------|-------|------------|---------------| | [Task name] | [Hours] | [Person] | [Dependencies] | [Definition of done] | ## Phase 2: [Phase Name] (Timeline) [Continue for each phase] --- ## Dependencies Map ``` [Task A] ──> [Task B] ──> [Task D] ├──> [Task C] ──┘ ``` --- ## Risks & Mitigation | Risk | Impact | Probability | Mitigation | |------|--------|-------------|------------| | [Risk description] | High/Med/Low | High/Med/Low | [How to prevent/reduce] | --- ## Resource Allocation | Role | Hours/Week | Key Responsibilities | |------|------------|---------------------| | [Role] | [Hours] | [What they focus on] | ``` ## Estimation Techniques ### Three-Point Estimation ``` Optimistic (O): Best case scenario Most Likely (M): Expected case Pessimistic (P): Worst case scenario Expected = (O + 4M + P) / 6 ``` ### T-Shirt Sizing - **XS**: < 2 hours - **S**: 2-4 hours - **M**: 4-8 hours (1 day) - **L**: 2-3 days - **XL**: 1 week *Break down anything larger than XL* ### Planning Poker For team estimation, use Fibonacci: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 story points ## Example **User Request:** "Plan a website redesign. Team: 1 designer, 2 developers. Deadline: 6 weeks." **Response:** ## Project: Company Website Redesign **Goal**: Launch redesigned website with improved UX and modern design **Timeline**: 6 weeks **Team**: